PRIM&R Comments to USDA APHIS on the ANPRM on Environmental Enrichment for Regulated Species
Agency: USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Date submitted: April 10, 2023
PRIM&R focused its comments to USDA, on the ANPRM published in the Federal Register on January 9, 2023, exclusively on the section on environmental enrichment of all covered species. In its comments, PRIM&R stated that similar to existing requirements for nonhuman primates and marine mammals, environmental enrichment standards for other species should be evidence-based, rather than based on non-scientific approaches, such as anthropomorphism and/or colloquial experience. In addition, given the dearth of information on and understanding of the needs of many of the other species that are covered under the AWA, PRIM&R recommended that, before establishing environmental enrichment standards for all other AWA covered, species, USDA support research in areas such as animal behavior, comparative psychology, and ethology to better elucidate environmental needs that sustain the wellbeing of different species.
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